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say it: pruh-PAWR-shuhn
proportion is a noun and verb meaning "the quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole". It carries 7 recorded senses.
the quotient obtained when the magnitude of a part is divided by the magnitude of the whole
balance among the parts of something
the relation between things (or parts of things) with respect to their comparative quantity, magnitude, or degree
“an inordinate proportion of the book is given over to quotations”
“a dry martini has a large proportion of gin”
harmonious arrangement or relation of parts or elements within a whole (as in a design)
“in all perfectly beautiful objects there is found the opposition of one part to another and a reciprocal balance”
adjust in size relative to other things
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for proportion come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.